Barry Callebaut to integrate North American Operations at fewer production sites

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Cost benefits and optimized quality control

The Swiss industrial specialty chocolate producer Barry
Callebaut plans to
concentrate its US-American operations at fewer sites. This step
strengthens
the cost base of the Group and facilitates quality control, yet it
leads to the
phasing out of the Jersey City plant of the Van Leer
Division.

Zürich/Switzerland and Jersey City/USA, February 24, 1999.
Barry Callebaut AG,
Zürich/Switzerland, the world leading producer of industrial
specialty chocolate,
announced today its plan to integrate the US-American activities at
fewer production
sites. Barry Callebaut, listed on the Swiss Exchange, has lately
considerably
enlarged its presence in North America acquiring the Van Leer
Corporation last July
and being now in the process of taking over the Chadler operations
in Brazil and the
USA. While the plan to integrate production at fewer production
sites will not reduce
the processed volumes of the US-American operations, the
streamlining will make
better use of the more modern facilities, reduce cost, create
specific centers of
expertise and therefore optimize quality control.

The oldest production site, the 50-year old Jersey City Plant of
the Van Leer Division
is expected to be phased out by early 2000. The production transfer
to the other
Barry Callebaut companies will begin in May. The complete "Van
Leer" product range
will remain unchanged and will still be available to all customers.
Barry Callebaut
USA is committed to assist all present 135 employees at the Jersey
City Plant to find
new jobs. Some employees will be offered transfers to other Barry
Callebaut
facilities. A career center available to all employees and workers,
will provide a full
range of outplacement resources.

Pierre Vermaut, Chairman of the Board of Directors, commented:
"The decision to
leave Jersey City - a place where an important chapter of the
history of chocolate
has been written during the last 50 years - was not taken lightly.
But in order to
remain the preferred supplier of our US customers, the
restructuring of our activities
is imperative. The integration of the production at only two sites
facilitates our
objective to create specific centers of expertise in the USA and
thus strengthens our
ability to always best serve our clients."